


Just Another Reveal Fic

by nessquik



Category: Miraculous Ladybug
Genre: Eiffel Tower, F/M, Identity Reveal, Plagg Cares, Secret Identity, anxious marinette
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-11-16
Updated: 2018-11-18
Packaged: 2019-08-24 06:28:52
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 3
Words: 5,119
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16634735
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/nessquik/pseuds/nessquik
Summary: Marinette Dupain-Cheng, the true identity of the superheroine Ladybug, likes Adrien Agreste - who is also secretly Chat Noir, a feline hero who likes Ladybug.TL;DR - They're meant for each other.





	1. Just Another Introduction

**Author's Note:**

> I'm gonna start this off by saying I lost interest in the show ages ago after season one ended, and when I saw that Alya, Nino and Chloé get miraculouses, I just HAD to pick it up again. I binged watched all of season two in less than a day. Thanks, Thomas. Yet again, your show drew me in so easily. 
> 
> As well, I watch the French version of the show - without subtitles! I know quite a bit of the language, being Canadian. However, that means - for example - I'll write 'Papillon' instead of 'Hawkmoth'. I just find the English dub horribly annoying. It's not the worst dub, but... It's kind of like pretty much every anime, where the voices are too goofy, high pitched, or just don't fit the characters. Or maybe a mix of several of those.
> 
> Anyways, since I only just got caught up with the show - I'm even MORE anxious for a reveal episode. So I decided to write a pretty basic reveal fic, to indulge myself. This will probably be a few chapters long, but if it gets enough nice feedback I'll definitely make it a series. I miss writing long pieces... If only I didn't delete my old Miraculous fics, and just continued them :)
> 
> One final note; I haven't read a reveal fic in who knows how long, and the one that I wrote was two and a half years ago, so if it seems too simple or cliché, sorry about that! I just wanna have Adrien and Marinette reveal their identities in my own fashion, and in a satisfying way.
> 
> Thanks for bearing with me this long! On to the story.

"Bye-bye, little butterfly." Ladybug whispered softly, watching for a moment as the white insect flew off. Throwing her lucky charm, a pillow, high into the air, an explosion of red and black was created, restoring all the damage that the chaos had caused.  
  
As she heard her earrings beeping, Ladybug made a move to dart away quickly, but Chat Noir landed gracefully on his feet after a leap in the air - right in front of her. "Where are you heading off to, my lady? Perhaps we could do something together?"  
  
She rolled her eyes under her mask. "Sorry, kitty, you know I'm about to detransform. Maybe some other time." Before another word could be spoken, Ladybug lashed out her yo-yo, grappling on to a distant pole, and flew away.  
  
Chat yelled after her, "That's not such a big deal, you know!", but he knew better. That was rule number two of being a miraculous holder, never revealing your real identity. Number one was never losing your miraculous. However, he kept a light smile on his face as he ran off away from the press' view, running into the cinema's bathroom. After a flash of light, Plagg floated in front of Adrien's face, eyes expectant. Sighing, the young model pulled a piece of camembert out of his bag, and let his little partner munch away.  
  
"You know," Plagg said between bites, "She did say maybe." As he left the stall, Plagg drifting in the air behind him, Adrien gave a happy hum. "That's true. She did say she has someone else, but... I shouldn't just give up on her, Plagg. She's just too amazing."  
  
"Maybe so. But have you ever given any thought to who she could be under the mask, hmm?" Plagg spoke clearly, having finished his snack. "Of course, no one should know, but that shouldn't stop you from using your imagination." Adrien's eyes went wide for a moment as he considered this. Who could Ladybug be, without her costume and powers? He was certain he'd definitely still like her, however. After all, he admired her for many other things than her superhero qualities. She was brave, kind, pretty...  
  
"She could be anyone, you know." Plagg snapped Adrien out of his daze, regaining his attention. "What if... She was a criminal?" Plagg's pupils glinted mischievously. Adrien frowned. "Definitely not. Ladybug's a perfect example of a hero. She wouldn't be a bad person."  
  
Plagg seemed to giggle at him, which made Adrien huff. "It's okay, she isn't."  
  
"...Plagg."  
  
Plagg's pupils quit glinting, and instead shrunk at Adrien's sharp tone. "How would you know that? How would you know what she is?" Adrien's expression was unreadable, which frightened Plagg. He gulped loudly. "Um... I-Intuition...?"  
  
Adrien didn't seem to buy the feline creature's statement, but he didn't get a chance to question him further. One of the cinema's patrons entered, running over to ask Adrien for a quick autograph on a piece of toilet paper before the teen left, heading home. During the walk, when he saw that no one was around, he peeked into his shirt. "Plagg, you've... You've met her?"  
  
Plagg didn't make eye contact, and remained silent. Sure, he was pretty good at lying, he just didn't want to. He knew that Adrien wanted to know, badly, but they both had to remember their duty. Keep their identities secret.  
  
"I..." Adrien began, trailing off, then stopped. With a gentle shake of his head, Adrien gave Plagg another small smile. "I know... I can't know who she is. But can you at least tell me one little thing about her?"  
  
This, Plagg could offer. A small fact. Nothing that'll help him figure it out.  
  
"You'd like her. A lot." Adrien groaned. "Come on, Plagg, I already knew that!" Smirking, the kwami went back into Adrien's shirt. A muffled "No take backs!" was heard, and Adrien wished he could have been more specific with his question.

* * *

 

When Ladybug dove into the door on her ceiling, it didn’t take long for light to envelop her costume and disappear. She had really stretched her time, any longer and she could have risked exposing her identity...

That would have been a **cat** astrophe.

Snickering, Marinette also didn’t take long to begin to laugh at her own mental pun. She didn’t really mind what Tikki thought of her; it was just really funny, for some reason. Maybe the stress of being one of Paris’ superheroes had begun to make her hysterical.

“What’s so funny, Marinette?” The bubbly kwami asked, eyes bright, despite doing a bad job of hiding her exhaustion. Being transformed so long must have taken a lot out of the floating creature, and the young girl felt bad. She quickly went to work on getting her a snack. “Oh, nothing… Just thought of something funny.”

Tikki, too busy nibbling into a macaroon, simply made a small nod of approval as she ate. Marinette let her thoughts drift, as she thought about what Chat Noir had said to her as she left. She knew that Chat liked Ladybug, but… She couldn’t like him back. She liked Adrien.

And yet, she found herself wishing she could meet the real person that Chat Noir was. She couldn’t deny that Chat Noir was definitely one of her closest friends. They made a perfect team, and he was a lot of fun. A great fit for a superhero. However, their relationship could only be described as strange. They didn’t even know each other’s names, their appearances behind their masks, their personality outside of their costumes…

What if Chat Noir was like her? Marinette wasn’t as brave as Ladybug. She was unlucky, she was awkward and shy, she was... not a hero. Could Chat Noir be like that in some way, too? Was his true persona unlike his heroism expressed as a miraculous holder?

Who could know for sure…?

When Tikki finished her food, she could practically tell what Marinette was thinking. “You know… I, um…” It was unlike the kwami to stutter, and the blue-haired girl seemed to pick up on this. “What is it, Tikki?” She asked, concerned.

“I met Chat Noir. I mean, when he wasn’t transformed. That is what you’re thinking about, right? What he said before you left?”

Marinette’s eyes went wide. “Y-yeah, that’s… That’s what I was thinking about, Tikki…” The duo drifted into an awkward silence, both seeming to want to speak up, but hesitated.

“What… What’s he like? Is he any different than how he is as Chat Noir?” Marinette spoke up suddenly, effectively ending the silence.

Tikki shook her head slowly, but then stopped. She then nodded her head, as well. “I mean… He’s still a good person. I know that for sure! He just, isn’t… He isn’t as, um, what’s the word…” The kwami drifted about, in thought, before coming to a conclusion. “He just doesn’t seem as confident as his actual self than he is Chat Noir.”

That seemed to bring a smile to Marinette’s face. Maybe they were both in the same boat… Feeling more sure of themselves when they had a mask to hide their face.

It was only human, after all.

* * *

**TL;DR - Secret identities can become curious about other secret identities.**

 


	2. Just Another Day At School

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you for all the hits and kudos! Much appreciated. <3 I'm looking forward to writing more.

“Hey, did you see Ladybug yesterday? Soooo cool!” “Don’t forget about Chat Noir!” “I heard he asked her out after the fight!” “Wow, really? What happened?” “I think she said maybe-”

“Alright, class, no more gossip, please! Time to take your seats, we’re having a pop quiz!” Miss Bustier called out, and most of the class seemed to let out a disorganized yet collective groan. Books were put away as papers were passed out - thankfully, it was only a single-sided sheet for the quiz. Good thing Adrien had remembered to study his poetry terms.

Marinette, however, did not. Just what in the world were all these terms…? Allusion… That’s what happens when you see something that seems real but isn’t, right? Oxymoron? Is that another word for a stupid person?

Guessing most of her answers, she prayed that she could have good luck for once. She wasn’t doing that well in this course, and another bad mark would just make things worse. When she got up to deliver her completed paper to her teacher, she tripped over the last step, faceplanting. Chloé burst out laughing, and Sabrina followed shortly after. Adrien, who was also en route to pass in his work, stopped to help his friend up. “Are you okay? Anything broken?”

Marinette, face red from embarrassment, shook her head. “Th-thank you, Adrien.” He offered her a gentle smile, and she felt her worries slip away. She really was in deep with this guy…

It wasn’t until the teacher cleared her throat that Marinette realized she was standing in front of the entire class, test clutched in her hand, with a huge smile on her face. Flustered, she quickly shoved her paper onto the pile and awkwardly marched back to her desk with Alya, totally embarrassed yet again.

Not long after, the bell rang, only a few people left behind to finish their tests through the lunch period. Heading to the cafeteria, she heard footprints behind her that she knew much to well. Cringing, she looked around for Alya, but she was on the other end of the courtyard, talking to Nino. She’d have to deal with this herself.

“Hey, Marinette!” Chloé called out, a devilish grin pulled along her face. “Enjoy your fall?” Marinette grumbled something unintelligible under her breath, looking away. She didn’t want an argument, she just wanted this to be over.

“I just wanted to let you know something,” Chloé sneered. “Now that I’m a real superhero, Queen Bee, and all of Paris knows - I think it’s time you figured out that you have zero chance.”

“What are you talking about, Chloé? I have somewhere to go.” Marinette looked away, peeking around the taller girl to see if there was any way to escape from her. Unfortunately, Sabrina seemed to appear out of nowhere from behind the blue-eyed girl. “Duh! She’s talking about your chance with Adrien! Zero!” She repeated eagerly, hoping to please her dictator of a friend. Marinette went to argue, to deny any existence of her attraction toward her blonde friend, but she was interrupted.

“Don’t speak for me!” Chloé whined, grabbing Sabrina’s arm as she hauled the small girl behind her roughly. “But it’s like she said. Adrien’s mine, got it? After all, I’m a true hero. He obviously only has eyes for me. I bet if I told him about you liking him, he'd be repulsed."

“You wouldn’t know a true hero if there was one right in front of you!” Marinette yelled at the top of her lungs, anger written all over her face - and her body language as she crossed her arms. She then felt as if the entire school was staring at her, judging her, and then retreated a bit. “A-Adrien is a nice guy, Chloé, he would never like someone as m-mean as you...” She said this much more quietly, looking around fearfully at all the students watching the scene.

Chloé didn’t really seem that insulted as she stepped forward, pushing Marinette down to the ground with a flick of her finger. “It won't be long before he realizes his feelings for me. And, well, I don’t think he’d ever like someone as useless as you, Marinette.” She said coldly, her expression uncaring. Sabrina seemed like she wanted to object, but didn’t, as her eyes darted between the blonde, cruel girl and the frightened Marinette.

With tears welling up in her eyes, Marinette backed away, then speedily got to her feet, and ran. She ran as fast as her legs let her, ran further and further away. She had always tried to not let Chloé’s insults get to her, but… This was just too much.

_Maybe she’s right. Maybe Adrien will never like you back. He’ll be with Chloé and he’ll hate you. Hate you just like she does. Hate you just like everyone els-_

“No, stop, enough!” She aggressively whispered to herself, wiping her tears as she continued to ran. _Positive thoughts… Don’t go to that dark place…_

Marinette hadn’t even noticed her handbag left discarded on the ground. All she was focused on was getting as far away from Chloé as she possibly could.

* * *

 

“Adrien…! Adrien, snap out of it, dude!”

“Huh…?” Adrien looked around, confused. He saw the concerned face of his best friend, Nino, in front of him. “Sorry, I was just thinking about something…” Ladybug. He often found himself thinking of the heroine clad in red. And ever since their last meeting, who she could really be.

“Have you seen Marinette? Alya heard from Sabrina that she ran off after she had a fight with Chloé, but nobody knows where she went…” Nino rubbed the back of his neck, worried for his close friend.

“No, I’m not sure.” Adrien stood up, abandoning his lunch. “Did she leave the school? What were they fighting about?” He packed up his things, ready to help look for Marinette.

“No clue about either, dude. Sabrina didn’t say. I’m really worried about her, though… D’you think… She’ll get akum-”

“Don’t say that.” Adrien cut him off. “Marinette’s brave. I know she’d fight it, stay positive. She'd never be akumatiz-”

Suddenly, a scream rang out amidst the school, causing a huge panic. Usually, in Paris, loud and frightening noises meant someone got akumatized.

A figure burst through the window, throwing glass shards everywhere. One shard made a somewhat deep gash on Adrien’s cheek, and he cried out and fell back, clutching his face in pain.

“I don’t think you know everything about her, man…” Nino commented, looking fearfully up towards the ceiling.

Most akumatized villains were often hard to identify, but this one was easily figured out. This villain hard dark blue hair, in two massive pigtails, held together with large, puffy red bands. Her skin was tinted pink and her eyes, lacking pupils, were a deep ocean blue. She hovered in midair thanks to a pair of massive, translucent insect wings. Her outfit was mostly black, skin-tight, covering everything - including her hands and feet. Her most prominent feature, however, was a large heart-shaped lock at the center of her torso.

It was the eyes that gave her away; Adrien only knew one person with such intense blue eyes. No question, that was Marinette.

“Man, Chloé really does cause a lot of akumas to appear, huh…” Nino huffed, before grabbing his friend’s arm. “C’mon, dude, let’s get out of here and hide. Ladybug and Chat Noir will save her, I'm sure."

* * *

 

**TL;DR - Chloé never learns her lesson.**

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Edit: Just realized these chapters are only 1k words each, I'll try and make them longer from now on!
> 
> I'm also looking for a beta reader if anyone is interested! Please contact me on Discord if you are, as I'm only active on this site when I'm posting chapters.
> 
> Discord: nessquik#1323


	3. Just Another Akuma Attack

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you to everyone who left kudos and bookmarks! Comments are always appreiated. <3

As Marinette ran, dodging pedestrians along the sidewalk, she tried to find somewhere to stop. The tears wouldn't stop pouring from her eyes. She didn't want anyone to see her like this. After finally finding a corner store, she rushed in and hid inside the bathroom stall. Reaching at her side, she looked for her bag to speak to Tikki, only to find… 

Her bag was gone. 

Crying even more now, Marinette slid down to the ground, curling up into herself. “Pathetic… Crying over stupid Chloé… Get a hold of yourself.” She whispered to herself bitterly, eyes shut tightly.

_ Useless… Pathetic… He'll never love you back… Everyone hates you… _

This time, she let these thoughts swarm her mind. What's the use trying to fight these words her mind presented to her when they were true? She was useless. Marinette Dupain-Cheng couldn't do anything worthwhile unless she was Ladybug. She was pathetic, letting Chloé get to her. Crying and running away. Ladybug wouldn't do something like that. Only Marinette was capable of being so lame. 

These thoughts were right. Adrien would always care about Chloé more, after all, she was his first real friend, and she was pathetic, useless Marinette… Look at her now, how jealous she is. Obviously, Adrien would never like someone like her. Never.

“Why… Why does anyone even like me…” Marinette cried to herself, wrapping her head in her arms. She didn't even notice the dark butterfly, tinted in purple, fly through the space under the door, and attach itself into her necklace.

Gasping, she saw lights around her. She knew what was happening - she let an akuma reach her. Her conscious seemed to fade away and become replaced with something new, foreign and terrifying. She wasn't herself any longer.

“Hello, Locktress. I am Papillon. I see you feel love, and yet… Hopelessness. Hurt. You fear that your feelings will never be returned, my dear, and because of that, you fear so much more. Don't worry. With this power, you can silence the voices you don't wish to hear and get your revenge. All you need to do in return is get me the Miraculouses of Ladybug and Chat Noir. Do we have a deal?”

Marinette felt her body stand up straight, no longer the crestfallen shape it was in before. “Certainly.” She was covered in a dark, cloudy mass, then felt herself lift up into the air as she heard a buzzing noise behind her. She had transformed, and she certainly hadn't become Ladybug this time.

* * *

 

Tikki felt herself being dropped, and she feared the worse. Marinette had just ran off after a fight with Chloé, and she had no idea where her human partner had gone, due to being trapped in the bag. And now, here she was, left abandoned in the middle of the school. Anyone could open the bag and find her… And that certainly wouldn’t end well. 

For the time being, though, she remained inside - maybe the bag would be entirely ignored, and she could leave when nobody was around. Yet at the same time, she was so worried for Marinette… She would have to wait. Being discovered was a much more dangerous circumstance for Tikki right now.

When chaos broke out as an akuma attack broke out, Tikki feared the worst. She was separated from Marinette, meaning Ladybug couldn’t appear to purify the villain. The kwami left the bag, knowing everyone was distracted by the explosion of glass to notice her, but when she turned around to see the villain, the worst become more worse. The akumatized villain was  _ Marinette _ , she could tell by the sound of her partner’s voice. If Marinette had turned to the Papillon, that means… There was no Ladybug. At all. They’d never be able to purify the akuma butterfly, which means it’ll only continue to spread until it takes out all of Paris.

As Tikki stopped floating and drifted erratically to the ground, she couldn’t feel more relief as Chat Noir appeared from above, jumping off of a post to attempt to pounce the Locktress, but failed as she dodged swiftly. Chat landed nimbly on all fours, however, and stared up at the villain with a smirk. “Locktress, hmm? Does that mean you’ve got some skeletons in your closet?”

“I don’t have any time for you, pest!” Marinette’s villainized self shouted, then evelopped her hand in a glowing blue light. She dove downwards at alarming with an arm outstretched. Chat, who had no time to react, couldn’t dodge, at the Locktress swiftly made the comical movement of pretending to zip and lock his lips together. As she hovered back upwards, Chat attempted to speak, but found he couldn’t. Only muffled noise escaped his tightly shut lips. 

Tikki, wishing to alert the feline hero of Ladybug’s current situation, drifted over to him carefully. She didn’t want to become mute herself, so she made sure not to be seen. Hiding near his ear, Tikki noticed a deep gash on his cheek, but disregarded it for now and began to whisper to him. 

“Chat Noir, I’m Ladybug’s kwami! She, um… She can’t come.” She scrambled for a good excuse. Chat backflipped away from another attack, maintaining the same determined expression as he hummed a confused response back to the small, red creature. “I can’t explain, okay! She just can’t be here right now, and it’s for a very good reason!” Chat Noir let out a frustrated sound, he knew that they couldn’t finish off an akuma without Ladybug’s purification. All he could do for now was try and find where the butterfly was located, and destroy it. It would spread without Ladybug’s yoyo, but… He needed to trust his lady to come back and fix everything.

“I think it might be in the lock!” Tikki advised, believing it to be the location of the akuma, since it was such a prominent element of her costume’s design. Chat nodded, and jumped upwards, staff at the ready to strike the insectuous villain down. “I don’t have time for this!” The Locktress yelled out angrily, “Where is Chloé Bourgeois!?” She looked around wildly for a moment, until she looked through the large window and saw a helicopter in the middle of the street, with an undeniable blonde individual stepping into it fearfully. Without hesitation, the Locktress charged for the helicopter than had begun to fly upwards, smashing another window in the process.

Chat rolled his eyes. Villains these days, they had zero respect for public property.

* * *

 

Marinette was drifting, helpless. She could see everything that her akumatized self was, however… She couldn’t do anything. She was powerless. If only she hadn’t run away, if only she hadn’t lost Tikki, if only she didn’t let Chloé get to her in the first place. Then Paris wouldn’t be in danger from the Locktress.

It didn’t take much thought for Marinette to figure out why she had become this villain. She had two very big secrets that absolutely no one could figure out. Her powers made sense, as well, she didn’t want Chloé revealing her feelings about Adrien, and she didn’t like what she was saying, and the way she speaks to others… It made sense for the Locktress to want to silence her forever. For a moment, Marinette almost agreed - thinking the mayor’s daughter deserved such a thing, but snapped herself out of it. Nobody should be without the right to speech, unless they chose to be. It wasn’t right.

When she had silenced Chat Noir, though, she felt immense guilt. She knew how much that kitty loved to talk. He could go on talking for hours, making puns and flirting. She knew it best, after all, she was Ladybug. 

Ladybug. That’s what Marinette felt the worst about. Without her, Paris was doomed to a cruel fate. Her akuma would spread if not purified, akumatizing every person it comes across. Even if she was freed from the evil influence by Chat Noir, Papillon would be watching Marinette’s every move, waiting for a chance to akumatize her again, so she could take control of an army. That also risks her exposure to the evil miraculous holder as Ladybug. There were so many horrible situations that could occur, she just couldn’t stand thinking about it. 

All she could hope for was that Chat Noir would save her, and that she would get the chance to become Ladybug and purify the akuma before it was too late. She had to trust her kitty.

It took forever to finally catch up to the Locktress. Boy, could she fly really well. Even though he leapt through the air gracefully with his staff, the villain’s flight speed was very advanced. When Chat caught up, it was because the villain had finally managed to knock down the helicopter near the Eiffel Tower, which began to swerve down, heading rapidly towards the ground, about to crash -

The feline hero threw his staff, extending it, causing the helicopter crash to delay for a few moments. When it finally hit the ground, due to most of the force being stopped by Chat’s staff, nothing seemed to break - he prayed the occupants of the air vehicle were also unharmed. He landed somewhat roughly on the edge of the tower.

Locktress turned in anger, her rose-coloured skin seeming to turn a darker red. “You’ll pay for that, you annoying little furball!” Without warning, she charged towards the hero clad in black, who was ready this time. Time seemed to pass in slow motion as Tikki called to him; “Get the lock!”

Gathering his power, Chat Noir summoned his Cataclysm to attempt to release the akuma, but a small flash of light distracted him. Something small and thin that was around his opponent’s neck. A wave of realization hit him; and he hesitated for a moment as a memory resurfaced.

* * *

 

_ “H-hi, um, Adrien…” The model heard a timid voice speak up behind him, and turned around with a smile to see the one and only Marinette Dupain-Cheng nervously standing before him, arms clutching a wrapped present to her chest. “M-Merry Christmas!”  _

_ “Marinette, you didn’t have to…” Adrien answered calmly as he took the offered gift. “Let’s go sit down on that bench, okay?” Marinette nodded quickly, then began fumbling over her sentence. “I-I needed to though, because we’re friends - at least, I, um, think we are, uh…. Y-yeah!” She seemed a bit more jittery than normal, which was saying something. Adrien could never understand why she acted like that around him but not around others. _

_ He began to laugh a little, not in a mocking way, however. “Of course we’re friends. Here, I got something for you too. It’s nothing too special, but I hope you’ll like it.” Marinette’s eyes seemed to sparkle as Adrien took a rectangular gift out from his shoulder bag, handing it to her gingerly. He opened his first, however, smiling brightly when he saw what it was; custom made earmuffs! They were extremely soft, he noted, as he felt the sides. The band had a hand-sewed pattern, and the puffs on the end were black. She had put a lot of work into this. “Marinette, these are amazing! Thank you so much.” Adrien gave her his most genuine and happy smile, grateful for such a nice gift. Somehow, Marinette’s eyes seemed to an absurd amount as she made a high-pitched sound. _

_ She began to open her gift, opening the wrapping paper without ripping it, as if she wanted to keep it. After a extended time of removing the paper, Marinette studied her gift. It was a picture frame with gold polka dots painted onto the frame. The photo inside, however, she loved. It was a photo of her, Adrien, Alya and Nino from a couple of weeks ago, when they had made a gigantic snowman at Nino’s place. Their cheeks were red from the cold, but they were all so happy in the picture. She loved that hangout. “A-Adrien, this is perfect, y-you didn’t have to-” _

_ “Hold on, you haven’t seen all of it.” Adrien pointed to the corner of the frame, where Marinette had failed to notice another gift. It was a silver chain with a beautiful snowflake pendant. “I thought a necklace like that would always remind you of that day. I thought it was really special, myself, so I hope you like it-” _

_ “O-of course I do, Adrien! I-I…’ She stared at the necklace in awe for another moment, even feeling tears at her eyes. She knew she was being over dramatic, but it was just so sweet of Adrien to get her something so nice… _

_ “Here, let me get it for you.” He reached over her arm, taking the necklace off of the frame’s corner, then undid the clasp. He gently put both ends of the chain around her neck, then moved a bit closer to her to get better access to the back of her neck, where he finally made both the ends meet. “Is that good?” _

_ Marinette merely nodded as her face was red and she seemed too flustered to respond. Adrien chuckled a little, and moved back to where he sat originally. “Well, I’m glad you like it.” _

* * *

 

The memory flashed by quickly, but it was enough for him to realize; Marinette had worn that necklace every day since last Christmas, which was a few months ago at this point in time. She seemed to love it so much… That had to be where the akuma was hidden.

Readjusting his hand at the very last second, Chat used his Cataclysm on the necklace, mostly hidden underneath the Locktress’ clothing. He had made the correct choice. A darkened butterfly escaped from the broken chain, removing the Papillon’s evil influence from Marinette. Marinette, whom was in the air beforehand, began to drop rapidly towards the ground. Chat, panicking, lunged for her, grabbing her and holding her tightly - until he realized that he didn’t have his staff. He visibly began to panic. At least their fall from the Eiffel Tower would take a while, it was from a very high height after all. But after considering this, he was even more afraid. They would never make it. They were doomed. His Cataclysm was gone, as was his staff, he would probably detransform any minute now, even if he lived another minute...

He looked down to see Marinette’s mutually terrified face, and noticed her look over his shoulder, where he felt the small kwami crawling on his shoulder. He then turned to view the kwami, who winked at Marinette. The girl in his arms nodded back, a solemn look in her eye, and the rest of what had happened shocked Chat Noir to his core.

“Tikki, transform me!”

His eyes went immeasurably wide as the pair was encased with a bright light; the small kwami was absorbed into Marinette’s earrings - which became a stunning red with black spots. He watched in awe as Marinette swiped her hands over her eyes, revealing a matching mask with the intense blue eyes he would never forget. The rest of Marinette’s clothes underwent a similar transformation as she became the heroine of Paris, Ladybug. 

With a huge flick of her yoyo, Ladybug halted their decent, and begun their ascent back up to the tower. She clutched onto Chat Noir, who seemed paralyzed with shock. He didn’t even notice his ring begin to beep.

“Um…” Ladybug began, shuffling her feet awkwardly. “Meet me here. Later tonight. Transformed. We, uh, gotta talk…” And with that, she seemingly flew away.

Chat Noir didn’t really remember much after that. At some point, he detransformed, leaving Plagg tired and hungry for cheese, but he didn’t have any. 

As he distractedly went down the tower’s stairs, it finally struck him.

He was in love with Ladybug. He was in love with none other than Marinette Dupain-Cheng.

* * *

 

**TL;DR - Marinette should just never get upset. Ever. That way, she’ll never be akumatized.**

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm still looking for a beta reader! HMU on Discord! nessquik#1323


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